Renée Zellweger: why does her face look so different?

Bridget, Bridget, where have you gone? There was no mistaking the shock behind the collective global wailing which erupted when actress Renée Zellweger – aka our beloved screen version of Bridget Jones – appeared at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards on Monday night. Far from being the crinkly-eyed, pink-cheeked embodiment of one of Britain’s favourite female characters, Miss Zellweger looked completely different. Without an introduction or a label, I’m not sure many people – including her mother – would have recognised the A-list star.

Wildly we speculated: had she been taken by aliens, and substituted with a creature from another dimension? Was she in costume for “Face Off, the Sequel”? Had she been given a new identity by the FBI? Or had she, you know – the world squirmed – had, cough, ''work’’ done?

Certainly, the one thing you couldn’t say about Renée’s appearance was anything derogatory. She looked marvellous: healthy, fresh, rested (to use a favourite euphemism of the surgical-instrument clattering classes) – and pretty happy, too.

Questioned yesterday in response to the interest in her new visage, the actress cited contentment as the chief explanation for her radical new look: “Perhaps I look different. Who doesn’t as they get older?” she said, adding: ''My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy. For a long time I wasn’t doing such a good job with that. I took on a schedule that is not realistically sustainable and didn’t allow for taking care of myself.

“Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion. I was aware of the chaos and finally chose different things.’’

Did those ''different things’’ include a trip to the plastic surgeon? The features most notably different in the new Renée were her eyes, in particular the disappearance of her distinctive hooded lids – a possible genetic legacy of her Sami heritage.

Dr Michael Prager, a cosmetic doctor, thinks she has had a blepharoplasty, also known as an eye job, where skin from the upper and lower eyelids is removed, before a little repositioning and tightening. ''Previously, surgeons would take away the fat bags above and below the eyes too but this could make eyes look sunken,’’ he explains. ''Now they reposition them. It’s a simple operation, which can be done under local anaesthetic and healing is quick.’’

So does he approve? ''Usually it is a good thing, especially for people who, like Renée, are born with excess puffy skin in this area, as it can make the eyes look bigger. But she is a special case. Renée’s trademark is her squinty eyes and her round face – a sort of cute Tweety Pie look. Now she looks at us with round blue marbles and it is really disturbing.’’

Patients who go through such an extreme alteration to their eyes can suffer psychologically, Dr Prager warns. ''The area of the face that forms a triangle – the eyes, nose, upper lip and cheek bones – is where we look to recognise someone. It’s also where we rank each other for attractiveness. A lot of patients find it difficult to cope with such a new look afterwards. Changes to the area around the eyes can be to a degree when patients almost don’t recognise themselves. They can find it hard to look in the mirror.’’

Antonia Mariconda, a cosmetic coach and beauty blogger, was also shocked: ''I didn’t recognise her, to be honest; so many people have commented to me online just saying 'Oh my God’. It’s not that she doesn’t look good – I think she looks fantastic, actually – but I would say she has had work done.’’

Like Dr Prager, Antonia is shocked that Renée would lose her trademark features. ''All celebrities almost need an element of quirkiness to build a unique identity – think of Barbra Streisand’s nose. Renée’s eyes were hers – I think we all liked the way that they made her a bit girl-next-door. We could relate to her. So when she lost lots of weight, for example, after the first Bridget Jones movie, we didn’t fall out of love with her. We still knew who she was.’’

And while Renée is clearly putting on a happy face about being the subject of international speculation – “I’m glad folks think I look different,’’ she said. ''I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows’’ – Antonia is not sure all will be so cheery off-stage.

''No one goes in for cosmetic surgery expecting to look like a different person afterwards. You should look a better version of you. I won’t judge her for having work done – that’s absolutely her decision and right – but I do judge the surgeon for the lack of subtlety used. It has not been good 'work’.’’

Of course there is another possibility. Perhaps Renée, who famously gained 20lb to play Bridget Jones, before dropping four dress sizes in under a year after filming was complete, and is famous for her meticulous preparation for roles, is merely getting into character again.

Let’s hope it’s not for Bridget Jones 3, however – Daniel Cleaver would certainly be in favour of the glam new look, but I’m not sure poor Mark Darcy would pick her out in a police line-up.

Of course Darcy, the human rights lawyer, would most likely support her right to look any way she damn well pleases, as should all of us. But for the record, he did like her ''very much, just as you are.’’ And so – to be fair – did we.

How to achieve Renée's new look

Lips: Fillers

Leading French cosmetic doctor Dr Jules Nabet (www.julesnabet.com) says: “These pictures suggest fillers have been used to improve the look of the lips, especially the top lip. In my opinion, filler has been added along the edge of the lips to improve definition and in the body of the lip to give more volume.’’

Cheeks: Fillers

''She could have had fillers to volumise her cheeks as they appear fuller and more rounded,’’ says Dr Nabet.

Forehead: Botox According to Dr Nabet: ''The forehead is smooth which suggests Botox has been injected to the forehead to smooth away any lines or wrinkles.’’

Eyes: Blepharoplasty

''She has had a reduction of upper and lower eye fat and skin,’’ says Dr Prager.

Eyebrows: A lift''It’s possible she has had an eyebrow lift to create the extra space above the eye,’’ adds Dr Prager.

Antonia Mariconda (http://thecosmediccoach.com/) says: ''I think she has opted for a darker skin tone than normal and barely there make-up to detract from the fact that she has had work done in a bid to appear more 'natural’ ”.

Hair: Colour change and cut

Mark Woolley, creative director of the Electric hairdressing chain, (www.electric-hair.com) says: ''Hair can play a massive part in changing someone’s appearance. Renée has taken the hair back on the cheekbone and forward on the jawline, creating a diamond shape that can affect the shape of the face — this shaping has been massive this season. In terms of colour, Renée has definitely toned down and changed the depth of her blonde, this can change the appearance of the skin tone and can add to difference in her look.’’